Pib

And the Manila FBU has a responsibility/duty to participate in the Foreign Enforcement Program (FEQ) per SSA regulation. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0200905350

As FYI in case anyone does have their benefit suspended in January because the SSA didn't receive a 7162/7161 from the 1st or 2nd notice, below snapshot/partial quote shows the Manila Federal Benefit Unit (FBU) responsibilities in trying to locate the beneficiary and get the FEQ answered (i.e., FEQ is formal name for the 7162/7161 program). Also shown is the duties of Office of International Operations (OIO) in Baltimore which is like the headquarters office for the FEQ program. Review the SSA weblink for full details. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655010

I bet it feels good to be able to say your renewal is many years down the road....don't need to worry about it anytime soon. A feel good benefit of a l....o....n.....g term visa vs a year-by-year visa. I'm jealous. ????

For folks with a U.S. address, the SSA/Medicare folks does mail a person a letter/form approx 3 months before turning 65 saying you will be signed up automatically for Part B unless you complete the form declining the coverage and return it. You must have missed that form...or the SSA sent it to the wrong address....etc. I'm not sure if that letter/form is sent to folks with an overseas address. It probably is although it may be worded a little differently from the letter/form that folks with a U.S. address get.

Whoops.....significant typo....I meant to say 2. Only taxable....vs 2. On taxable....

Dealing with the SSA for some issues/problems can extremely frustrating. Around 4 years ago when the wife started her SSA pension the Manila FBU messed up the Benefits Begin date....this was done during the phone interview. I was involved in that phone interview with the wife's and Manila permission. Well, although the advance paperwork that had been sent to Manila stated a benefit begin date of October and they the rep was told that again verbally during the interview the rep apparently made a typo and entered a June Benefits Begin date in the application he forwarded to HQ SSA in Baltimore for review/approval. The application was approved by Baltimore quickly like approx August...two months before October. However, just days after the approval a Jul and Aug combined payment was received...and then the approval notice that showed up in snail mail showed a June benefits start date vs October. We immediately contacted Baltimore and Manila....explained the problem...and Baltimore started the process to pullback/recover the Jul and Aug payments and they had to recover those payments before they could correct the wife's Benefit Begin date to Oct. The wife wanted the benefit to begin in Oct vs Jun and it made a significant difference in the monthly payment amount and added up to a lot over her expected remaining lifetime.....plus, it was simply October--not June--that she wanted and had requested. Manila even admitted to their typo/mistake in an intra-agency message according to a Baltimore rep I had talked to. Well, Baltimore recalled the payment from Bangkok Bank and within a few days of that payment being pulled back another payment for September arrived. Once again, we are on the phone to Baltimore and Manila...Manila really can't do nothing as Baltimore has the lead. Manila is mostly a middle man for a lot of SSA issues. Now, for the next 4-6 months and "many" phone calls to Baltimore, the Baltimore SSA boys & girls had major problems in getting the Benefits Begin date adjusted properly to Oct...they kept blaming it on "IT system checks and balances, issues. And this period of "fixing" the issue the Medicare folks started sending the wife premium notices since her SSA pension hadn't been restarted/reset correctly to October and the wife's SSA payment were in limbo....payments that would automatically pay her Medicare premium. Baltimore finally got it fixed by actually deleting the wife's application (which had the Manila caused typo) from their magic computer system which took multiple supervisors' approval to do so and then re-entering on the Baltimore end. That got the problem fixed and its been OK since. What a nightmare it was. But it "finally" got fixed....but it took around 4 to 6 months of many phone calls, emails, snail mail forms, etc. The SSA is definitely a bureaucracy that can be extremely frustrating and hard to deal with when a significant problem occurs with your pension. Thanks goodness that a SSA pension like this is a once in a lifetime event when you initially apply for benefits.

1. Yes 2. On "taxable" 401K/IRA. A Roth IRA is not taxable/reported on your tax return. Totally up to you as each person financial needs/desire and view of life expectancy is different. You'll get more per month if you wait beyond your FRA up to the age of 70. But if you start withdrawing early then of course you get a bunch of money before your FRA. A ballpark estimate is for every 1 year you started withdrawing before your FRA it will take approx 4 years of payments if you had waited till FRA to match the money you gained by stating SSA pension before FRA. Example: if your FRA was say 66 but you started drawing at 62, well, it would take approx 16 years of the higher FRA payment to match those extra funds you drew from 62 to 66. SSA/Medicare use Modified AGI to determine if you pay extra for your Part B. For the purposes of determining MAGI for Medicare premium purposes it's your tax return 1040 Line 11 AGI "plus" 1040 Line 2a Tax exempt income. Most people don't have any tax exempt income which is shown in Block 8 of a 1099INT which ends up on a Sch B worksheet which might end up going onto 1040 Line 2a. For most folks, 50 to 85% of a person's Social Security benefits aretaxable on their tax return and ends up totaled into the AGI. Up to you....if you don't feel comfortable go with a planner. But IMO there is so much good financial planning info on the internet now days unless a person has a lot of various investments and don't want to educate themselves with all the good, free info then go with a financial planner. And watchout for those planners with high fees and primarily recommend sponsored investments.

This all look normal to me based on what I think you are saying. The Standard Medicare Part B premium for 2022 is approx $170/month and for 2023 it goes down a little of $165.90. AND since you mentioned your taxable income in 2022 was in the 100K range due to a real estate sale if you also had around a $100K income on your 2021 tax return (repeat 2021 tax return which you filed in 2022) and you filed as a single then you are incurring the Medicare Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA). IRMAA is an extra charge added to your premium which for 2023 will be 65.90 for Part B. An important note that any IRMAA for the upcoming 2023 year will be based on your 2021 tax return....when SSA determines if any IRMAA is required they look a person's tax return from 2 year back. When 2024 Medicare premiums come out any IRMAA will be based on your 2022 tax return. Also, double check if that real estate sale or another sale was really reported on your 2021 tax return that you filed in 2022. And regarding where you said you didn't signup for Part A or Part B, well, generally signup for Part A is automatic regardless of whether your address onfile with the SSA is in or outside of the U.S. And generally signup for Part B is "automatic" if have a U.S. address on-file with the SSA, but not automatic if having a foreign address. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2023-medicare-parts-b-premiums-and-deductibles-2023-medicare-part-d-income-related-monthly https://hr.harvard.edu/files/humanresources/files/medicare_irmaa.pdf

Yea, talking to folks at the SSA 1800 call all customer support number for a lot of specific SSA problems often results in them referring you to another SSA number and saying they will send an internal message to that other SSA agency/department to contact you. Kinda like throwing a stick for a dog to go chase and after you throw the stick you run away before the dog gets back to you because you don't want to play stick with your dog. 410 965 0160 is not in Pennsylvania; it's the number for the SSA Office of Earning and International Operations in Baltimore Maryland. See below SSA webpage which shows the phone number. It also gives a FAX number where you can fax forms....also has a link to contact them via email where you could include an attachment like a completed/scanned 7162. https://www.ssa.gov/foreign/ Recommend you immediately mail your 2nd notice 7162 to Wilkes Barre via "regular" airmail; not "registered airmail. And maybe email/fax your 7162 to Int'l Ops to add another chance of your 7162 being recording into the magic SSA system.

Most people do "not" pay anything for Part A...it's free as long as you had 40 quarters/10 years of work of social security credits which I assume you did. It's Part B, repeat B, that cost $164.90 for 2023 (the basic premium)....it went down approx $5 from the 2022 premium. The wife and I have Part A and B coverage.....we each pay zero for Part A and will pay $164.90/month for Part B in 2023. https://www.medicare.gov/basics/get-started-with-medicare/medicare-basics/what-does-medicare-cost

Yeap...that's what I'm thinking. But who really knows. Maybe they have certain reps working certain types of applications with the rep(s) working the Wealthy Pensioner applications probably having a bigger backlog/workload since I think the previous stats showed Wealthy Pensioner applications exceeding all other categories of applications. Maybe a little workload leveling between BoI reps is needed.

Called BoI today to check on the status of my application submitted in late Oct...was placed on hold for approx 3 minutes for the rep to go check...when rep came back online she said it's still in the queue for first look. Estimated given for first look after submittal was 30 "calendar" days....that equates to approximately 20 business days. Rep said they have a lot of applications in the queue.

I submitted my application in late Oct and it also shows Screen 3 along with Pending. I know of another person who submitted in mid Oct and his also still shows Screen 3 and Pending. Wouldn't it be something if Screen 3 means Screener 3 who has been on leave....just not at work for some reason...and the BoI is just letting applications in Screen 3's inbox just wait for Screen 3's return to work.

Well, like what I posted earlier maybe "Screen" is just short for "Screener" to indicate which BoI rep is screening/reviewing an application.

What shows under the Status column for Screen 1? And did the Status for Screen 8 show Complete like mudcat's post?

Look back about 7 hours at mudcat's post regarding Screen 8.

Yea....I see what you mean. I just looked at my online acct again and on the main page it does show the new amount added in for my "next" payment which identified for o/a 2 Dec. But I expect that is wrong, misleading wording on the main page because the 2023 COLA applies to benefits you start earning 1 Dec 2022 which are "paid" Jan 2023. https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-01951#:~:text=When the increase takes effect,the entire month of December.

The wife and I got emails today/21 Nov from the SSA notifying us that the our 2023 Cost of Living Adjustment Notice/Letter was available in our SSA online account inbox. Sure enough....we logged on and downloaded our COLA notices. An 8.7% increase and Part B insurance premium dropping from $170.10 to $164.90. So, I expect those who receive their COLA notice only by snail mail should see it arrive in your mailbox over the next 2-4 weeks. I know for me, SSA snail mail to my Bangkok residence usually takes around 2 weeks.

Thailand - a "provisional" province of China.

Use the USPS tracking app downloadable from Google or Apple. Or use the USPS tracking website below: https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input All other tracking websites/app you might use, to include the Thailand Postal System app/website get their USPS tracking data from the USPS tracking system and also use their own descriptions of what a particular tracking code/status means. Additionally, USPS Tracking provides more detailed info than the Thai Postal tracking. The Thai Postal system tracking number you get when you mail an item to the U.S. is a valid USPS tracking number also....it's not just for Thai Postal system tracking only. Just get your tracking straight from the horse's mouth....the USPS Tracking System.

Hopefully more people who have submitted a LTR application (or even just have a draft) might chine-in to say what their "Staff Name" column and "Status" column are showing. Short of BoI publishing some reference explaining what the Staff Name and Status columns entries now mean, we'll just have to do a "group Sherlock Holmes evaluation" to try to figure it out. I may call them again late this week to check on the status of my application and at the same time ask about Staff Name and Status entries. Anyway, since my application shows Screen 3 and Pending......and as as of early last week per call to BoI my application hasn't been looked at yet, let's assume Screen 3 really means Pending Review. Based on ThailandRyan's and mudcat's inputs that Screen 8 means a Status of Approved and Screen 7 means at a Status of Preapproved. And another Status column entry I've seen in the thread is "Qualifications Approved." Don't know how that might be different from just "Approved." Now if some others could chime-in regarding what their Staff Name and Status columns are showing, especially if any are showing Screen 1, 2, 4, 5, or 6 along with a brief overview of any issues with their application like the BoI asking for more Docs, that would really help to Sherlock Holmes what the new Screen number means. I check my application status multiple times per day to include late in the evening/early night and for me these these new Screen numbers started appearing on the morning of Sat/19 Nov which was right after the special 3 day holiday on 16-18 Nov in the Bangkok metro area. Although the BoI announced they were closed (at least to the public) during 16-18 Nov I expect they still had a few people working like maybe IT type folks who maybe did a software upgrade late 18 Nov/early 19 Nov while everyone else was in bed....typical for software upgrades to occur during the O-dark early morning hours. Anyway, for those of you with applications in the system, please chime-in with what your Staff Name and Status columns are reflecting with a short explanation of what you think it might mean based on how your application is trekking thru the system. Help the Sherlock Holmes effort. ????

Or maybe Screen is just short for Screener....as in the BoI rep reviewing an application. As in Screener 3. Screener 7, etc., and not representing status/progress of the application at all as Screener 7 or Screener 3 could be reviewing an application that just arrived today or arrived a month ago and is close to approval. Summary: I don't know what it means...just another guess on my part. But ThailandRyan's guess sounds very plausible to me.

I got another wild guess, repeat, wild guess as to what "Screen 3" might mean. Maybe it means your application is close to approval as represented by "Step 3" in the application process when you View your submitted application. See snapshot below where I Viewed my application and clicked on Step 3 just to show what Step 3 means word-wise and it talks where to have the visa issued....at an embassy or at the BoI. When I applied I said I wanted to have my LTR visa issued at the BoI in Bangkok. So, maybe Screen 3 is tied to Step 3 and it means the BoI is now at the stage of generating an approval notice instructing you to take some steps to schedule/pay for your LTR visa issuance. Boy, wouldn't that be great! But I'm probably dreaming because I have a hard time believing my application would go thru so easily without being questioned is some way...without the BoI asking for some type of additional info/docs like maybe my medical insurance not satisfying the Boi or just something. Plus some other posters with a Screen 3 entry are involved in providing additional docs in response to a BoI request. Repeat, I'm guessing. Who knows what Screen 3 means as it's probably a program update/renaming of internal Boi review processes to make use of the system easier/faster for the BoI personnel to process applications.

This may turn out to be an example of different BOI reps interpreting their own guidance differently......or, there has been a very recent change at BOI regarding accepting brokerage accts for medical self-insuring....or gosh knows. But I do know the BOI posted requirements does say "....or a deposit balance of at least USD 100,000 in a bank account in Thailand or abroad retained for at least 12 months as of the date of application." Now I guess in may come down to what BOI defines (and what their intentions were) for "a bank deposit." IMO in today's world of many different types financial accounts and types of financial companies that "bank" can almost be considered a vague word.

Yeap....appealing to me also. But time will tell if my desire to get an LTR turns in a reality. I had been extending on an OA Retirement extension for almost a dozen years until the 2019 medical insurance requirement sprang-up. So, I switched to doing a marriage extension of stay on that OA to avoid the insurance requirement...on my 3rd marriage extension now. With the COVID pandemic making foreign travel very hard for several years and the fact I didn't have any urge to travel (my former military career burnt me out on travel) although I'm physically fit to do so I settled into the groove of doing a marriage extension which does not require any medical insurance (for now and hopefully it will stay that way...but who knows)...and the income/bank deposit requirement only being Bt400K for two months out of the year (maybe three months to play it safe during the approx 1 month under consideration period) and then the deposit balance can go to zero if desired. But although a marriage extension is not hard to do each year, lower income requirements, and the wife and I have been married like almost a half century I was still seriously considering switching to a Non-O Retirement (to avoid any need for wife's participation in the renewal process) if I happened to take a trip outside Thailand allowing me to kill off the OA visa....and I just may make such a trip mid 2023 to visit family/friends in the U.S. But when this LTR 10 year via (actually 5+5 year visa) came along and it looks like I can meet the Wealthy Pensioner requirements (but time will tell as the BoI reviews my LTR application) I find a 10 year visa very appealing in terms of providing 5-10 years of visa stability vs a year-to-year visa stability. I think it just makes Thailand feel more like a home by truly providing a long term visa vs year-by-year visas. I don't consider a year-by-year visa truly a "long" term visa....1 year goes by so fast! And I think having long term visa stability will make a person more willing to spend/invest more money in Thailand. I figure the one year address reporting will end-up being like the LTR sister SMART visa where the reporting can be done once a year in person at Bangkok BOI immigration "or" by mail-in which will pretty much make it easy to do no matter where you live in Thailand...no hassle of travel just to do a simple report. I figure once the BoI gets the time to expand/fully grow the LTR webpage it will grow into some similar to the BOI SMART visa website. And hopefully the LTR mid-term renewal process will end-up being a reduced & faster version of the current application process...like just showing you still meet the required income and insurance requirement....and since a person got thru the initial approval process doing it the second time should be a lot easier, less stressful since the person now has first-hand knowledge under their belt from the initial application. That is, you now know the ropes, how to ride the bicycle that was initially kinda hard to learn how to ride. Yes...each person will have a different view as to how well an LTR might fit their situation, needs, desires.